It appears that someone at Napoli has leaked a bit of early team news to journalist Ciro Venerato ahead of their clash against Rangers FC on Wednesday.
That’s at least what the man himself is saying, as Luciano Spalletti prepares to go head to head with Giovanni van Bronckhorst in the Champions League at Ibrox.
Venerato, speaking to TV Luna, basically went out of his way to try and predict the starting line-up the Serie A side will put out against Rangers, and he even included some of his own information in the process.
To try and stop the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent, he said Alex Meret would ‘naturally’ be in goal, while the two full-backs will be Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Mario Rui.
At the heart of the defence, we will see Kim Min-jae alongside Amir Rrahmani, with Piotr Zielinski, Frank Zambo Anguissa and Stanislav Lobotka ahead of them.
Then comes his information, relayed by Area Napoli: “The news from Scotland that I’ve received is that Giovanni Simeone is the favourite to play in the centre of the attack. Kvaratskhelia on the left and Matteo Politano on the right will act alongside him.”
That, in itself, suggests Hirving Lozano still hasn’t recovered from his flu, even if he has travelled, while it was already known that Victor Osimhen would be missing the game.
This means Giacomo Raspadori will have to wait before starting a game in the Champions League for his new club.
Either way, for Rangers, this means they will face a different kind of threat, as Simeone is a far more imposing figure than the diminutive Italian, who has a tendency to play in more of a false nine role when featured through the middle.
Something for Van Bronckhorst to potentially think about as he prepares his team ahead of the clash at Ibrox on Wednesday.
